12 Crystals, 12 Guardians 2
by Angeliise
Summary: Where there is a Yang, there is a Yin. But will fate let that happen for Sasuke and Hinata?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _ **A New Hyuga**_

 _The scrolls._

 _They are gone..._

* * *

 ** _Midnight_**

"Oi! Who do you think you are?"

"I'm Orochimaru." The sannin grinned by how he effortlessly took out the 2 members of the team. He knew he was taking a huge risk, relying his trust on these but he knew that they were the only one on pair with the other Guardians, and with a little enhance from the crystals he had, they would completely annihilate the Guardians and bring him the needed ones.

"You really think this will be enough to defeat your opponents in the Chunnin Exams? Let me tell you something, they will put you up against the 12 Guardians."

"Those?! Why? They are on a whole other level than a genin?"

Orochimaru licked his bottom lip as he saw a spark of interest from the only one standing. He could see how thirsty he was to try these Guardians out. _Got him._ He showcased 3 circular shaped objects, each with their own color. The figure in the middle was particularly fond over the red one, it somehow expressed his inner desire to defeat whoever stood in his way and yet at the same time something else that he could not put words to.

"Without these, you will not stand a chance against ANY of them. But I'm willing to make a deal." He said, once again licking his bottom lip.

"What?"

"He he he. Very well."

* * *

 _I... I... I don't want you to say goodbye...!_

The young heiress never thought she would think this, but she wished that the doctors hadn't discharged her so soon. She had not even been there for a whole night, the unison between her and Sasuke's crystal had apparently healed the majority of her wounds. She could not say the same for the remaining Guardians though, especially Sasuke. Thinking back to the time when they reached the hospital and Sasuke falling flat on the ground as soon as she slightly lightened her hold on him. She remembered the panic she was in as it seemed to her that he was not breathing.

The young heiress was sitting on the rooftop of Kurenai's house. She sighed down on her knees she had been hugging the entire time. She remembered how desperate she wanted to check up on Sasuke as well as her teammates, but their crystals were in need of special treatment. Her crystal had apparently healed on its' own from the bright light from when she woke up to Sasuke's face after their match. Those marks that covered Sasuke had put too much pressure on his crystal, which took a lot of energy from him. She was told that the light from the battlefield was only a temporary help, which actually sucked the remaining energy and chakra Sasuke and Hinata's crystal had left while it provided the healing. Hinata sighed once again. _Since he did most of the fighting, it makes sense that he was the first to fall._

She gazed at the stars for comfort. Hinata took a deep breath as her thoughts wondered off to her and Kurenai's walk to her house. They had to go to her household to gather her belongings. She did not get to say a proper goodbye to Nana as she was no where to be seen, which made a part of Hinata crack. The other part was shattered, knowing that she would not see Sasuke after this day. But deep inside, she knew that she would not let this day be the last day she sees Sasuke. As much as she did not want to admit this, Sasuke was the only thing she had in mind. Even her teammates became a distant memory at the back of her head.

Her recalling of todays events was interrupted by the figure walking past her. His velvet coloured hair was impossible to miss, as well as that large sand gourd on his back. Hinata did not know how to explain the aura he illuminated, but it felt like nothing but hurt and loneliness. Something Hinata felt at this very moment.

The shinobi Hinata had been unconsciously starring at looked her way, which made the former heiress flinch. She awkwardly tried to smile and wave the situation away but to no avail as he turned around and continued his peaceful walk. As soon as it was only his back she could see, she let out her held-in breath. "That was scary."

The young ninth decided on going back inside to her room. She lay on her bed, thinking of all the events again. For some reason, she did not want to forget this day. Sasuke and her finding out that they were Mitsu and Kurai all along. She could finally unlock her Armor. Those marks that covered Sasuke's skin. Everything. But she knew that thinking too much about the outmatch would make her eyes teary and eventually lead to her sleep, and it did.

* * *

"Kurenai-sensei, how are Kiba-kun and Shino-kun?" Hinata asked while staring down at her cup of tea. She had not even touched her cinnamon bun, which is her favourite treat of all time.

Her sensei looked at her student in dismay. Hinata had been asking this exact same question, in that same position, and same tone every morning for the past week. She was no longer the shy girl she once knew, she was still quiet but not in the way Kurenai remembered. Not once had she shown any concern for Sasuke or even Naruto. Whenever Kurenai came back from her duties, she would find Hinata in her room or at the rooftop with an expression that longed for a special someone.

"They are going good. I heard that Team 7 is being discharged this evening." As Kurenai finished her sentence, she saw Hinata's head flinch.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun is?"

"I knew it. You have been thinking about him this whole time, right?"

"Why can't I live with him?" She sobbed, trying to keep her tears in. Even she was surprised about how much this actually hurt her, the thoughts of never waking up in Sasuke's bed, watching the peace his face expressed while sleeping emptied every single hope she had in herself.

"Hinata, you can't and you know that. What happened at the forest was pure bad luck on our side." Kurenai hated telling the bitter truth to her students, but if that was what it would take then she had to. She saw Hinata stand from her seat, thank her for the food that she had not even touched once, and walk upstairs to her room.

* * *

Hinata could not explain why she felt her heart churn from what Kurenai said. She wanted to see Sasuke, and nothing could stop her from seeing him today. She had not yet thanked him for everything he had done for her, not only as Sasuke but as Kurai too. Believe it or not, but Sasuke had created a special place in her heart that even Naruto had not. Naruto's spot had slowly grown inferior to Sasuke's spot, which was something Hinata never thought would or could happen, ever.

Hinata looked outside her window and saw as the sky had been painted with an array of pink, orange and yellow. It is not long before Sasuke and his team are discharged.

Since Hinata was not a Hyuga anymore, she always found herself in an identity crises when choosing her wear. Almost everything she had collected from the household bore on the Hyuga crest on the back. The only cloth that was crestless were the fishnet ones, but Hinata was not comfortable enough to go in only that. As the young kunoichi looked searched her closet, she fell upon a crop-top looking shirt. She took it into her hands and a tiny tear drop found its' way down her cheek. This shirt bore on memories from when she lived with Sasuke, but would she dare put it on again?...

The Yin Guardian stomped down the stairs and bid a quick farewell to Kurenai before storming out the door.

"Huh? Hinata!" Kurenai did not know where to start, she was speechless. From Hinata's attire, to the crest on the back of the crop-top that revealed much of her tummy. "Hi-Hinata..." However, instead of chasing her, Kurenai remained on her seat with a tiny smile on her lips.

* * *

"Yosh! Have you all recovered well?" Team 7 nodded in unison. Naruto stretched his arms behind his head with his usual grin.

"What's our next task as Guardians?"

"Not so fast. Just because _you_ recovered does not mean that you are ready to use your crystal in a fight." Kakashi said, grinning behind his mask from the disappointed look on Naruto's face. "I won't let the incident in the forest repeat, therefore we will continue training until I announce the next step."

Naruto groaned in annoyance. He glanced down on his crystal that looked in well condition to him.

"By the way, Kakashi-sensei. Since the scroll with the test was interrupted due to that incident, what will we do now? Will we take it over again?" Sakura asked eagerly.

"Wha- No way! That scroll was a monster! I REFU-"

 _SMACK!_

"Urusai..."

Sasuke looked at the reaction Kakashi gave, it almost seemed as if he was too terrified by the thought of the scrolls. Kakashi's response was even more suspicious. "You don't have to worry about the scrolls... You passed..!"

"We did!?" Sakura and Naruto cheered.

"Can we go home now?" Kakashi looked over at the impatient looking Sasuke and sighed in amusement. Not having realised that he had closed his eyes, Sasuke opened his one eye to see a slim, curvy figure running as if her life was on the line towards them. _Wha..._ As the Uchiha got a closer look at _what_ she was wearing, his eyes could not leave her body.

"Is that one of your fangirls, Sasuke?" Naruto pointed out as he noticed her too. He must admit that she looked cute with her hands in the air, waving at Sasuke. She had even bought him a present, which Sasuke would most likely reject.

Kakashi looked behind him and grinned to himself from the joke he could make. "Huh? Isn't that your girlfriend, Sasuke?"

"Wha- GIRLFRIEND?! SASUKE-KUN GOT A GIRLFREIND!?"

"You are so noisy." Sasuke groaned as he rubbed his ears, she was standing right beside him.

"Heh.. so you are not denying that she is-"

* * *

Hinata felt her legs giving up on her as her panting became heavier. Hinata felt the adrenaline rushing down to her feet by the sound of Sasuke's voice, even though she did not hear what he said. She even bought him some tomatoes on the way as it was his favourite food.

She saw that they began chatting again, possibly about her. But they seemed not to recognise her. She even heard Sakura bursting into tears, almost fainting. Naruto was there, too... It felt weird but, Hinata was more excited seeing Sasuke on his feet again being the same old cold Sasuke everyone knows. It was as if Sasuke was the only one at sight, she could not see anything else and that was why she kept running. Nobody else was going to see the big hug she was going to give him when she reached him, and the thought of this grew a huge smile across her face. _Sasuke-kun!_

However that was until...

 _THUMB! SQUASH!_

* * *

Team 7 witnessed as Hinata tripped over a pebble and fell flat on her bag with the now squashed tomatoes on the ground. Sasuke, without second thought, rushed over to her followed by his teammates.

The Yang Guardian kneeled down to her, and waited on her response before doing any hasty movements in front of the others. Hinata quickly got on all fours, shaking the dirt off herself. Sakura asked her whether she was okay, and in all honesty Hinata did not know. She did not know why she cared so much about whether Sasuke was okay or not. She could not explain why she was so incredibly happy to see Sasuke before her, kneeled down to her level. And she could certainly not put any words to what she was doing now, which earned a spiteful hiss and taken aback expression from Sakura, astounded facials from Kakashi and Naruto, and a silent 'huh' from Sasuke.

She was hugging him. Her arms had a firm grim around his neck, and it only tightened by the scent from his cologne. She could only utter 'I miss you' since she was fighting to hold her tears back. The Uchiha felt his arms freeze in mid-air around her petite body. The smell of vanilla and lavender invaded his nostrils, but what astonished him even more was the clothes she wore. Her tummy was on full display and she did nothing to cover it up. His eyes fell upon her the symbol on her back and his eyes widen by the sight. _That's the..._

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well... I will see you all tomorrow, then." And with a poof, he was gone.

Sakura unconsciously stretched her arm out, wanting to yank Hinata off of Sasuke. She knew that Sasuke hated this much physical contact with anyone. "A-Ah... Hinata, Sasuke-kun doesn't li-"

"Oh no! Y-Y-Your t-t-tomatoes.." She eyed the ruined present she was so excited to gift him. Again, Hinata did not know why she was so upset about not having anything to give Sasuke for his recovery. "I-I-I'm so-sorry." She apologised, her hand reaching for his.

Sasuke, still caught up from the hug, unconsciously stopped her hand by grabbing her wrist. He stared right into her pure eyes before yanking her away from his teammates by skipping onto a ceiling with her behind him.

"Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura noticed the symbol on Hinata's back, which left her dumbfounded. "The U-Uchiha crest?"

* * *

 **Hey minna-san ^^ Thank you for the support on the first story. I decided to continue the story as I couldn't contain the excitement of a possible sequel ^.^**

 **I hope you liked first chapter :) And if any characters seemed a bit OOC, please tell me so I can correct it. I wouldn't want the characters to feel rushed. Especially Sasuke and Hinata ;)**

 **And yeah... we are starting from where we left off in the first story.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

 _ **Who are you?**_

Hinata had no idea of where Sasuke was taking her, but she did not mind it. The warmth from his hand on hers was enough to send Hinata into a nostalgic state from yesterdays events and just her general experience with Sasuke. She even felt a tiny blush across her cheeks from the excitement of where he might take her, could it be _that_ place?

"Where is Kurenai's house?" He asked out of nowhere.

"H-Huh?" Without a second thought, she pinpointed Kurenai's house. Sasuke's speed grew faster, making it hard for Hinata to keep up. She would at times slip and fall forward, luckily for her Sasuke was there to make sure that she did not. Finally, Sasuke jumped from a roof and onto the ground. Hinata sighed in relief before eyeing the final destination. She was confused.

"Kurenai's house? But why-"

"Don't get the wrong idea."

"W-W-Wrong idea? Wh-Wha-"

"Mitsu," he cut her off, seeing the hurt look on her face, "what happened between us is past." He said, covering his eyes behind his bangs to avoid eye contact. Cowardice, yes. But if he wanted to accomplish his goal, then he had to rid himself off of every distraction. And she was the biggest one.

"And I mean everything between us. Including yesterday. These crystals were given to the chosen Guardians. We might bear on the strongest crystals, but that's it. I have my own goals that I must achieve, and until I have achieved that goal, I won't let anything or anybody distract me from it."

"D-Distract..." The Yin Guardian was once again left in the dust like a piece of nothing. Was she not even good enough for him, now? She was not good enough to stay in her clan despite her shameful loss against Yoroi, she was not strong enough to come back into training with her team against the scroll. And now, even Kurai- no- Sasuke deemed her as being unworthy of being in his presence since she is one of his many distractions. Hinata's nose was so stuffy, she could barely think of anything else but blowing her nose. She could feel the tears wetting her entire face, completely drowning her neck.

Hinata bit down hard on her bottom lip, trying to suppress the strong need to bawl her heart out. She wanted to say something, but not just something. She wanted to stand up for herself so she would not lose Sasuke. After all, out of all the Guardian teams, she knew she had the weakest bond to her teammates since she never got the opportunity to spend time with them because of her recovery and her desire to become stronger. The former heiress saw as the Uchiha turned around and was about to leave, and that is where she did the unexpected.

She leapt. And held him tight, ignoring his attempt of breaking free from her grip. She had yet to say a word, but her sudden action did not need any words put to it.

"Hinata, let go! Don't-" Sasuke felt something in his stomach stop him from continuing. It felt as if someone had taken a piece of the sun and injected it inside of him. He did not know what had caused it, but he knew that if he did not break off soon, he would be on his knees wishing for the pain to stop. And Sasuke's quiet groans was an indication that he had to push her away as his only solution. As the Uchiha was about to push Hinata away, her hold on him had weakened. And for some reason, her skin felt way colder than it did a couple of moments ago. Almost as if she came straight from the North Pole.

Hinata felt cold. And they were not even close to winter. She felt that her aura had been replaced with an icy mist, but she was somehow warmed by Sasuke's skin. It had become warmer at the same time her's became colder. _What is this?..._ Hinata felt her grip loosen, her fingers felt as if they were about to fall off. And even Sasuke's skin could not warm them up.

Sasuke quickly, but harshly, broke himself out of her grip. Without further thinking, he sprung onto a roof. His landing was a bit unbalanced and wobbly, but he managed to get away. _This thing..._ Sasuke remembered this feeling clearly, and he knew that as soon as he had gotten far enough away, the pain would leave on its own. _Why is it happening again?_ He took his crystal in his hands, and saw how it was unresponsive to his clear anger. As he continued his walk to his home, he felt an unusual chakra nearing him. He looked ahead and saw a guy with reddish hair that illuminated in the evening sky, he could not tell anything from the expression on his face.

The two ninjas passed by each other, and Sasuke noticed how his attention went straight to his crystal. Sasuke could feel his footsteps had stopped, but he continued to walk as if nothing happened.

"Kimi," Sasuke halted immediately, the deep tone in his voice nearly sent shivers down his spine. Whoever this guy, he was intimidating to Sasuke. "Are you a Guardian?"

Sasuke's eyes widen. The only individuals that knew of the Guardians existence were the previous ones and the current Guardians. And the fact that it had to be _this_ guy who knew of them, intimidated Sasuke even more. Sasuke noticed that he had not moved or responded since he asked that question. He heard a sneer from the guy before hearing his footsteps start up again.

"Now that I know how you look like, then I would advise you to say goodbye to your loved ones within the next 48 hours." This time Sasuke was left completely speechless, was this guy threatening him?

"Who-" As Sasuke quickly turned his body around, he was gone. The only trace left off him was the sand dancing along to the wind.

* * *

 _How?_

 _Don't get the wrong idea._

 _Why?_

 _I won't let anything or anybody distract me from it_

Hinata knew that if she did not let go of her crystal, she could crack it. _But.._. She was so mad! No, she was sad... But then again, she just wanted to scream in the head of someone. She heard a knock on her door, but did not reply. The door opened and Kurenai stuck her head in with a cheerful expression until she saw her student curcled into a circle on her bed.

"Can we go in now?" A voice asked, a voice Hinata recognized and somehow cracked a tiny smile to. Without getting the approval of Kurenai as Hinata could have guessed, Kiba stormed in with Shino behind him.

Kiba was about to call her name out again until he heard the silent sniffs she tried to hold back. "Oi, Hinata! What's wrong?! Who did this to you?!"

"Kiba, you barged into her room without permission and now you won't give her a chance to speak. Give her a break." Kiba scoffed Shino off and ran to Hinata's side, carefully approaching her petite figure.

Hinata sniffed the snot in, cleared her face as much as she could off of her tears and turned to face her team and sensei. She gave them a weak smile. "Noth..." She started, feeling the tears in her fall down again earning a quiet gasp from her team. "Nothi.." She was then cut off by Kiba who held his hand up.

"It's alright Nata, you don't have to say anything."

She swallowed the huge lump in her throat before nodding her head to him. "Ari... gato..."

"Hehe. No need to thank us, we are your team. Always here when you need us." Kiba said with a confident grin plastered on his face. Kurenai was overjoyed by what Kiba said, she could not keep herself from smiling. This moment was beautiful in her eyes. Even though, now she was even more curious of what happened when she visited Sasuke. Looking from her baggy clothes she had changed into, it must have ended badly...

* * *

"I wonder what that was all about..." Sakura asked herself, holding her chin while looking into the sky.

"Maybe they are together?" Naruto answered, imitating Sakura's body language. _Or maybe I shouldn't have said that..._ He thought as he felt Sakura's cheeks heat and her fist turning bigger for every second.

"NARUTO! YOU- huh?" As the kunoichi was about to land her blow, a sudden chill went through her spine. The source came from the guy their foolishness unfold. But, something about this guy freaked Sakura out, and she was not alone. From the tattoo on his forehead to the gloomy-looking expression he gave, sent another chill down both their spines.

"Are you two Guardians?" He asked bluntly.

"Huh?" They responded in unison. It was until then that they realized their crystals dangling from their neck.

"Y-" Sakura quickly slammed her hand on Naruto's mouth. She gave the guy a smile that would remind someone of a toddler asking for directions home. "Why would you think that?"

"Those crystals."

Sakura sharpened her look, sounding more suspicious as she gave her next reply. "That's because we got them from the Hokage, the mission we were sent on was on a higher level than we expected and we were awarded with these."

This silence between the 3 ninjas was intense. Sakura had not realized that it was her fifth time gulping her nervousness down. A part of her wanted to grab Naruto and flee, but another part of her told her to stay still and wait for his next move. While they were having this tense staring contest, Sakura noticed a red globe attached to a robe around his neck. _Could he be a Guardian too?... No way, there were only 12. And we met them all yesterday. Not that we will ever meet them again._

"Now that I know how you look like, then I would advise you to say goodbye to your loved ones within the next 48 hours."

"Wha-"

"What did you say?!" Naruto was about to attack him until this strong breeze slightly pushed Naruto and Sakura back, making them cover their eyes as the sand particles became too much to handle. As the wind subsided, the guy was gone. The two Guardians looked at each other in confusion.

"Who... was that guy?"

* * *

Japanese translation(s):

 _ **Kimi**_ \- You

 **Thank you for reading! ^^**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

 ** _What do I want?_**

"I will always love you."

"You are only saying that because we are the YinYang Guardians! The only thing you care about is becoming stronger and continue to be consumed with evil. One day, your crystal will take over your mind, and you will die! Just like everyone else..."

There was a silence between the two Guardians. The Yin Guaridian started to sob as she remembered the tragic death of her fellow Guardians. She fell to her knees from exhaustion. Her body was at its limit, and she knew that there wasn't much she could before her time was up. "We could've saved them... We could've saved them all...!" She clutched onto the muddy floor in misery. It wouldn't be long before they find them and kill them like they did with the rest. She knew that there was no way they could stop the poison because the connection between the YinYang crystals had long been broken, and couldn't be restored in that short amount of time. And shortly, they were killed, one after each other.

The Yin Guardian looked at the only surviving Guardian besides herself. Her heart was filled with a mixture of sorrow and hatred. They had been told for years that the YinYang Guardians were the only ones that could save the Guardians if they ever came to that situation, but it didn't work. It didn't work here, and it was too late to do anything. The Yin and Yang Guardian had no other choice but to flee from the battlefield. However, they could barely shake the enemies off, and now... They were doomed.

"What happened to our fellow Guardians was tragic." He looked as she slowly pulled herself up. "But, right now we need power to survive. Do you really want to die now?"

"One of them was your brother...!" She hissed added with a growl.

The Yang Guardian looked at his feet, avoiding gaze from his lover, or former lover. "Please don't look at me like that."

 _Hey, I see someone!_

Both Guardians jumped from the voice of one of the enemies. It wasn't long before they could hear the march of thousands of troops. The Yang Guardian looked at the direction from where the footsteps came from.

"They are coming! Let's go-!" He looked at the Yin Guardian as he prepared to run, but was halted by the 2 objects she held up. "Wha... Put it away... What are you thinking?!" He shouted with rage. His heart was pumping heavier than usual, he wanted to take the sharp weapon and throw it far away but his feet seemed to have lost all connection to his brain.

"This is what they want. They already have everyone else, but without ours they can't resurrect her."

"Baka omai! You will die if you do so!" He exclaimed, swinging his arm out of frustration.

She found herself sobbing once again, feeling a huge lump clog her throat. Her lips began shaking as it became almost impossible for her to speak, this man in front of her was the love of her life and yet he let this happen... and for what?... Power?!

"Please," he begged with tears in eyes this time, "put the kunai away. We will get them back, I promise-"

"No we won't! They are gone forever! They have probably extracted the chakra from both them and their crystals." She howled as she continued. "All you wanted was power from the beginning, and see what happened. They are gone, and we, no _I_ can't get them back!"

 _There they are! Get them!_

"Please..."

"No."

"Don't do this."

"Shut up..."

"Don't leave me alone."

They both looked at each other one last time, both reflecting what the other is feeling; hopelessness.

"I love you..."

"I love you..."

* * *

Neji Hyuga, Guardian from the Branch House, closed the scroll he requested from the Hokage. It was a scroll about the Guardians, and more specifically about the crystals. Apparently, the Yin and Yang Guardian were the strongest among the 12 crystals. He knew he did not posses it since his crystal had the shape of a marquise diamond. It was grey. It misses the purity of white and does not have the harsh, definite and apparent atmosphere as black, it was the perfect balance. _So, why?_

 _Did you hear that Neji-san was the first to go down?_

 _Oh, yes I heard that. And the worst thing was that Hinata-sama, who got disowned was one of the 2 last standing and fighting for the others. She's sooooo cool and strong._

 _I know, everybody kept saying that she was weak. If she could keep on for so long compared to Neji-san, then she must be really strong! Maybe it was because of his cool personality that people thought he was strong, but Hinata was the stronger one all long!_

The Hyuga clutched hard onto the scroll to distract himself from their constant babbling. Ever since he came back from the hospital, many of the elders have been looking down on him. Even more than they already did for simply coming from the Branch House. The only reason she was the last standing was because she was the Yin Guardian! Had Neji had either the Yin or Yang Guardian, he would've ended the battle faster than it had lasted. His hatred towards her grew even fiercer and more aggressive.

 _Why was it her out of all the Guardians?! How was she given one of the strongest crystal them all?! Me a genius was given a plain crystal while she was given the Yin crystal. The one crystal that was immune to the effect of the poison from the cursed crystals._

 _I wish Hinata could come back though, she would've been the perfect representative of the Hyugas, then. Shy, but strong. Elegant yet clumsy. A soft heart, yet a leader who would protect her comrades no matter what._

He scuffed. "She barely even mastered her Byakugan." He put the scroll in one of his drawers and put on his footwear. He was going for a walk.

* * *

As the Hyuga walked around Konoha in the soothing weather with the sky sending chills down his spine, he heard sobs from the corner, and they grew louder. He quietly leaned against the wall and peeped his head around the corner. The minute he saw the person who was crying, the veins around his eyes felt as though they were about the pop out. _Why is she sobbing?_

"Anybody but you," she hiccuped, "S-S-S-Sasuke...!" She screeched. She was on her knees, with her body bend over wetting the ground with her tears. The cold had long gone but the sensation of Sasuke's skin against hers still lingering on her hands, which she clinched onto her arms. She was beyond lost at this point. The crystals, Sasuke, the Guardians, Sasuke. What was going to happen now?... That was what she feared the most.

Neji was this close to confronting her, but a glimpse of the outcome stopped him from doing it. _She was disowned, almost died during a battle, and yet she cries over a pathetic excuse of a ninja. She is a disgrace. A disgrace to the Guardians, the Hyugas, and the bearers of the Byakugan._ He turned around as he saw her sensei step out the door, aiding Hinata inside for comfort. He flinched a tiny bit as he made eye contact with her. _She doesn't deserve to be Yin._

-Next Day-

Neji and his team had been summoned for yet another 'youthful' training session with Gai. What he found a waste of his time was that he always had to spare with Lee, he would rather spare with a former Guardian to better his skills as a Guardian so that he could take on any opponent. After yesterday's ugly run-in with Hinata, he had to ask this one question, which shocked even his sensei.

"Can you switch crystals with other Guardians?"

"Na-Na-Na-Na! Neji-san, why would you ask such a thing?!" Lee gasped, sprinting to Neji's side only to be pushed aside.

Gai's usual energetic expression changed to that of a serious one, and Neji was a bit surprised by how intimidating Gai-sensei looked. "Why would you ask such a question?"

"Everybody's fate are inescapable that's why I'm a rare one. I am a genius, who was destined to become one of the Guardians, the strongest of them all. So, how come that other Hyuga got the Yin crystal and not me?"

"N-Neji! How could you talk like that about your cousin?" Tenten snapped, turning her palm into a fist. She knew that Neji could get harsh, but never to this extent.

"She is not a Hyuga anymore." He said, staring into her shocked eyes.

Gai folded his arms before his chest, closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. "You can't 'switch' crystals between your Guardians. The crystal will forever stay loyal to their master."

"What would happen if I stole it by force?"

He looked at Neji with slight disappoint and worry before he answered. "Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Neji. Your arrogance is already enough."

"Wha-!"

"Let's start again!"

* * *

"So, how is everything going with Hinata and Team 8?" Asuma asked, smiling a Kurenai.

She took a deep breath. "I honestly don't know. Yesterday, I found Hinata crying her heart out because Sasuke decided to end their friendship. But thankfully her teammates came to cheer her up."

"That's good to know! Have you started training as a team again?"

Kurenai shook her head. "No, not yet," she looked at the ground, "but I hope we can start from where we left off. I am just more worried about the scrolls, what if Orochimaru-"

"He is missing the last elemental scroll that only the Hokage knows about. We will stop him before he can do anythi-"

"ASUMA!"

The two former Guardians jumped from the high-pitched, yet familiar voice from behind. They turned around and quickly felt a stream of regret wash over them. It was non other than Kimiko, the girl from their Academy years who had the biggest crush on Asuma. Clearly, Asuma was not interested and began dating Kurenai. And they are still going strong. This led to a strong dislike towards Kurenai from Kimiko, and she had done everything in her might to break those two apart.

"Why?! Why do you still insist on loving her?!" She shouted, getting closer to the two.

"Hello Kimiko." Kurenai greeted with the utmost sarcasm in her tone.

"I wasn't talking to you! Thinking that you are all that when you got nothing!" She said, creating the number 0 with her fingers.

"I have something you don't have," she said, pulling the long awaited card up her sleeve, "Asuma."

...

"YOU LITTLE!" Asuma hushed her and told her to leave them alone, but she continued to scream. "Just you wait! I will get you one day." She pointed her finger at Kurenai.

"Buy a house so we at least are on the same platform." Kurenai grinned, turning around with Asuma and continuing their conversation about the Guardians.

"Oh, now you have done it!" She yelled. As she saw the couple vanish among the crowds, she turned around as well heading towards a building. She entered the building and went to the reception.

"Hello, what can I help you with ma'am?"

"Kurenai Yūhi."

* * *

"A guy with red hair?" Team 7 had also been called for another training session as well, and the first thing spoken between them was the encounter with the mysterious ninja.

"He said that we had 48h to bid farewell to our loved ones before it's the end..." Sakura's voice decreased as she neared the end. She was shaking, and Kakashi could see how terrified she was. He looked over at Sasuke who looked away when the story was being told, an indication that it must have happened to him as well.

"I hate to say this, but this might be another attempt of Orochimaru to get a hold of the crystals and the scro-" He stopped himself, feeling a sense of hopelessness by the thought of the missing scrolls.

"Are the scrolls alright, are we going to guard them during the Chunin Exams?" Naruto asked, taking a step forward.

Kakashi held his palm up and shook his head. "The scrolls are fine, what you have to worry about is that guy. What else besides his headband did you notice on him?"

Team 7 stood and thought back to their encounter. Naruto gasped as he remembered the object around his neck. "He bore on a red crystal!"

Kakashi flinched. "A red crystal?" He asked with shock, a sweat falling from his forehead.

Sakura nodded and added that, that was the source of the strange chakra Naruto and her felt when he approached them.

 _This is worse than I thought, there can be no other Guardians in the world other than these 12. Whatever crystal he might have, it doesn't spell good._ Kakashi worryingly looked at his students, there was only one way to keep them all safe as once and that was keeping them at the same spot for the next 48h. Kakashi looked among his students and settled on Sasuke.

"Okay, there is only one way I can think of way to protect you all at ones." He looked at them as they closed in on him. "Having you all live in a place together for the next 48h."

Kakashi was about speak again until Sakura gasped in a high pitch, even her eyes began taking the shape of hearts. Kakashi once again sighed, knowing that this would happen.

"So, what were you thinking?" The Uchiha asked.

"That they move in with you, Sasuke."

...

...

...

"S-Sakura-chan, are you okay?" Naruto asked as he was waving his hand above Sakura. The kunoichi looked at her surroundings, she must have been dreaming for she thought that she was about to move in with Sasuke.

"What happened?" She asked quietly.

"Kakashi-sensei said that it would be a good idea to we move in with Sasuke for our safety."

"So I wasn't dreaming?!" She screamed in his face, startling the Uzumaki.

"N-No..."

"I refuse, there must be another way."

"There is no other way. There is not enough space at Naruto and Sakura's place, you are the only one." Kakashi and Sasuke had an intense death glare battle, and Kakashi was the winner as Sasuke sighed in defeat.

Kakashi grinned from his smirk, returning with his carelessness in his tone. "At least you will get to forget about Hinata, now."

"Uruse!" It was already hard enough for him to forgive himself for hurting her to that extent, now he it would be even harder not thinking about her. A part of Sasuke wonders why he had to go so far anyway, they weren't in the same team after all. So, chances of them meeting each other after the battle with Orochimaru's team was low. And yet, another part of him convinced him that it was the right thing to do. For the both of them.

He knew deep down that he wouldn't be able to withstand the need to protect her, and that disgusted him. She was his past, and yet she became a part of his future. He was going to marry her after all when he avenged his Clan was going to revive it. Sasuke took a deep breath, trying to get focus on the training but he simply couldn't. Not after how much he hurt her, and how they both can't near each other because that mysterious pain.

* * *

"Orochimaru, so far I have only found 3 of the Guardians. Where are the rest?"

The snake nin smirked followed by his usual sadistic grin. "Did I forget to mention that they are _masters_ in Hide n Seek?"

"Don't play games with me! I want to fight them as soon as possible."

"Don't worry. That threat you gave to the 3 is enough to bring them all together at the Chunnin Finals. Especially the one you found first." He said, licking the bottom of his lip.

"What's so special about him?"

"He bears on the Yang Guardian, he bears on one of the strongest crystals among the 12 Guardians."

"Who's the other one?"

"The Yin Guardian. Together, they become the 2 most strongest Guardians, Gaara. I would watch out for them if I were you." He said, sipping his cup of tea while enjoying the excitement that arose on Gaara's face.

"Who is the Yin Guardian and where do I find him?"

"It's a her. And you have already met her," Gaara sharpened his eyes, "the girl on that roof that looked down at you. Actually, she was the first Guardian you met. Her name is Hinata. Formerly a Hyuga. Her and Sasuke are special, and defeating them won't be enough for me. You have to bring them to me with their crystals."

"What's it in for me?"

Ororchimaru stared at the remaining liquid at the bottom of his cup, playing with it. "More power." He replied, sipping the last bit slowly. "Much more power."

* * *

"Waaaaowwww, this is Sasuke-kun's apartment!" Sakura gushed, taking a mental note of every angle, room, and furniture in the flat. She took deep sniff to the overall room she was in; the living room. _This is it! My future house!_

She looked over at the Uchiha, who was at the midst of dragging Naruto out from the kitchen. _And my future husband._ She felt her saliva running down the tip of her mouth from his cold attitude as he scolded Naruto. She gulped as he let go of Naruto's collar and headed her way. _Oh no, he is coming. He is going to tell me that we are sharing the same room and how we will share the same bed, and how he will hold me tight and whisper..._

"Iya! Sasuke-kun, I'm too young." She squealed, waving her hand in front of him while hiding her obvious blush behind her other hand.

"What are you talking about?" He asked annoyed.

"Wh-Wh-When we share the same bed-"

"Huuuuuh?" He cut her off, "we are not sharing the same bed!"

 _He is in denial. Awww, he is so cuuuuteeee!_ "Don't be shy, Sasuke-kun. I won't be too fast." She giggled, twirling her two index fingers at each other.

"Wha-"

 _CRASH!_

"Wha-!" Sasuke flipped over from the sound of broken glass. "Oh, he better not have..." He hurried into the kitchen and found Naruto on the floor that was covered the broken pieces of a glass of milk.

"I... slipped."

...

...

...

"Sorry..."

"That's it! I'm going for a walk!"

* * *

Kurenai announced that Team 8 would start from where they left off with Hinata and build up from there. Hinata, who was taking a stroll around Konoha, felt like a burden once again. No, she didn't feel excited nor happy that her duty as a ninja was finally starting off again. At this point, she didn't care what her duty as a Guardian was. If being a Guardian bearing one of the strongest crystals meant taking the responsibility for others, then she didn't want it. She could barely take care of herself, how could she possibly save her fellow Guardians from a danger such as Orochimaru.

Hinata bit down on her bottom lip, feeling her eyes get watery and heavy. Sasuke was the one that did most of the fighting, if it wasn't for him they would've all been killed long ago. She looked at the sky, the sun had yet to set and she did not feel like training at all. She felt empty, and it was not because of Sasuke. Somehow, Hinata couldn't feel anything when her mind found itself thinking back to that moment. Or any moment for that matter. At this point, the only thing that could keep her smiling were the remaining memories she had of her mother.

 _Is it really over..._ The kunoichi stopped, taking a seat on a nearby bench. She brought her crystal at sight and stared down at it, in hopes of getting some sort of indirect answer... _between me and Sasuke-kun?..._ Her gem stone responded with 2 beams. Hinata closed her eyes and closed her fingers around her crystal. _Seems like you can't answer all of my questions..._

Hinata stayed while observing as people came and went. The kunoichi flinched from the familiar chakra standing before her. It felt cold and distant, she could even feel the hatred emanating from the person in his chakra. She knew who it was, but why would he show up just now? After everything that has happened, she thought he would be the last person she would ever see again.

"You and me," his cold voice spoke, "training grounds. I give you 2 days to prepare."

She felt tears flowing down her cheeks, she barely made en effort to hold them back anyway. Had people not had enough of making her fight unwillingly? She squeezed the object in her palm as hard as she could to suppress the the tightening sensation in her throat. "Why...? I'm not a Hyuga anymore.."

"And I'm happy to know that," Hinata's eyes widen from those words, "but it's not because of the families. I realised that even if you aren't a Hyuga anymore, knowing that you bear on one of the strongest crystals, and looking from the fight a couple of days ago, I realised that the crystal should be owned by a more stronger ninja."

Feeling the air around her disappear as she desperately searched for it, made the Yin Guardian take unbalanced, heavy breaths. She felt her arm move on its own towards the figure before her, she opened her palm to reveal her crystal. "Pl-Pl-Please..." This object has done more damage to her than her past has. And now, she couldn't care less about whether she lost it or not.

* * *

 _Baka Naruto! How can someone be so_ _clumsy?_

 _Slap!_

"Do you take me for a weakling or something?!" Sasuke heard someone yell from the top of their lungs. Out of curiosity, he followed the sound from where it came from. It wasn't yet evening, so it couldn't have been a bad break up. He found a tree he could hide behind, he slowly stuck out his head and gasped from the person sitting on the bench. _What is she?!_

Sasuke couldn't tell what it was, but from the guy standing before her with his fist in the air and her hand turning red, a part of him wanted to walk up and take Hinata far away from him. He saw her crystal on the ground, which confused him even more. _What was hap-_ _Oh no, not again...!_ The Uchiha, having forgotten of what happened when he was near Hinata, clutched his abdomen wishing for the pain to stop.

The Yin Guardian felt a sudden cold aura forming around her, she knew this feeling too well. She looked in every direction to find the source for this sudden sensation. _Where is he?..._

"2 days. Training grounds." He reminded her, disappearing in a poof before he knew he was going to attack her. Memories from yesterday were becoming too much to handle.

As Neji disappeared, Hinata weeped. "I don't want to do this anymore..." She slid down the bench, finding herself in that same position after Sasuke left the day before. "I don't want to do this anymore..! Okaa-San!" A part of her sobs weren't from her encounter with her cousin, it was also due to the icy mist around her disappearing. Disappearing, meaning that _he_ was gone... without even a word...


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

 ** _My Ninja Way_**

~7:50

"So, what is the big news?" Kurenai jokingly teased as Asuma had blindfolded her ever since he told her of a place he wanted to show her.

"God, you are an impatient woman." He replied with a chuckle. As Asuma had arrived at their destination he removed the fabric. Kurenai stood before an apartment, very plain-looking at that.

The velvet eyed kunoichi side-eyed her lover. "So, what did you want to show me?"

"That hurts, Kurenai. It's my new home. I finally got a space for myself." He gently followed her hand to gesture her inside his home. "I only got 1 room, and I still in the process of putting together the living room and bathroom. I finished the kitchen last night." He casually explained as he pointed to the said rooms during his home tour.

"That's why you CANCELLED our date yesterday."

He nervously laughed. "All for a better dinner date at my house the next time I ask you out."

She scoffed. "If there will be another time."

* * *

~8:00

 _That damn Sasuke-teme_. Naruto lightly pushed the pebble from his path as he sighed. Sakura put the blame on Naruto for ruining her and Sasuke's "so-called moment". The Uzumaki once again conveyed the feelings of irritation through his scoff. _It wasn't my fault that that jar of milk was too high for my reach. Besides, what does she see in a guy like him anyway?_

Naruto's inner monologue came to a halt once he laid his eyes on a familiar face ahead of him. _Isn't that that girl from yesterday? Sasuke's fangirl._

Naruto was ready to continue with his stroll until he noticed the distressed expression on her face. It was then Naruto remembered the last time he saw her; she was dragged away by Sasuke. And for all he knew, and knowing how Sasuke was the definition of bastard, he was probably the cause of her troubled mood. Naruto approached Hinata in an attempt to cheer her up.

"Yo!"

* * *

Hinata had been lost in her thoughts ever since the chilling sensation had left her nervous system. Hinata had never been much of a fighter, in fact she was not interested in fighting. But she would not want to be a burden to her designated team. That is why she kept going even when situations got tough.

The young nin took deep breaths. _I'm a pathetic excuse of a ninja._ A voice exclaimed. It was followed by another voice that pointed out how irresponsible of a Guardian it was. The voices became increasingly louder, and Hinata succumbed to each and every statement by closing her eyes to shut the voices off. The silence did not last for long as she heard a familiar voice from a distance.

"Yo!"

 _Naruto-kun?.._ The boy, since Kurai's apparent death, had been an inspiration to continue moving. She had never engaged in any conversation with him because she was hindered by the thoughts of making a fool of herself in front of him. But, his drive to run through his obstacles without looking back, doubtless, was what Hinata admired from behind.

The sound of his voice gave way for a tiny smile on her face. She slowly raised her head, rubbing the dried and now marked tears off her face. "N-N-Naruto-kun?"

"Hey Hi..." The tiny smile turned into a low grin. "Hinsata?"

Hinata awkwardly tipped her neck to the side from his failed attempt. She could not blame him, though. She never gave her name. "I-I-It's Hinata."

Embarrased from that fiasco, Naruto nervously scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, Hinata. I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Hinata lightly gasped from the thought of her long-time admirer's concern for her. "I-I'm o-o-okay. Why would you ask that question?"

"I saw you crying and thought that it might've been that teme Sasuke's doing." At the mention of Sasuke's name, the tiny grin faded in a matter of nanoseconds.

"I knew it! When I get my hands on him I'll-!"

"N-No...!" She yelped. Strong yet fragile.

"But that little teme can't get away with hurting you like that! You had bought him food and then he just takes you away and makes you cry. That is unforgivable."

"Pl-Please give it up, N-Naruto-kun..."

"I won't give anything up-" Her eyes were locked on his ocean-dyed globes, "-because that is my Ninja Way!"

In that moment Hinata could see nothing but Naruto with the wind dancing through his golden locks. _Ninja Way?..._ Her mind expressed her thoughts through her mouth, and Naruto repeated with: Yes, my Ninja Way.

"If there is something I can't do, there is no point of becoming Hokage." Hinata once again took his last word and whispered it herself.

"Sasuke will pay for making you cry like this, and I will make him apologize to you!"

"Y-Y-You would do that... for me?"

He nodded, beaming her the brightest smile he could muster. After a few moments, D-shaped grin retracted into a lesser extensive smile where the corners of his mouth pointed upwards.

"Naruto-kun..."

This was the first time Hinata had felt such a pure aroma radiate from the Uzumaki. The smile was caring, but it simultaneously maintained the goofy aspect of Naruto. The moment between the two nins seemed to have lasted forever, and Hinata was fine with it. However, she was pulled down to reality from Naruto's light pat on the shoulder. The touch was too sudden for Hinata to process and before she could react to the situation Naruto was meters ahead of her, slowly becoming a part of the crowd.

Hinata ruffled through the pockets in pants and jacket to pull her crystal out. _Naruto-kun's Ninja Way._. She slowly clutched onto the tear-shaped piece before heading back to Kurenai's home.

* * *

~ 8:36

Hinata knew that without this crystal she would still be a Hyuga, the bond between her and her teammates would be more solid and substantiated and she would have never met... Sasuke. Although, the mystery surrounding Kurai's death was solved because of this crystal. Truthfully this crystal has done more harm than good to the life of the former heiress. _But..._ She looked down on her crystal and for a moment she saw a flash of Naruto's smile from earlier.. _that doesn't mean all is lost! Starting from..._

 _2 days. Training grounds._

 ** _Neji-nii-san_**

 _I give you 2 days to prepare._

 _I... My Ninja Way... will start from you!_ She looked down at her crystal once more, this time she saw Sasuke's face flash before her. _I won't bother you anymore, Sasuke-kun. I will grow stronger and one day... will move on. Just like you did..._

She could hear Kurenai from a distance - she was close to home. However, as she got closer the sound of Kurenai in distress made her title her head. Asuma was there as well. She saw a van by the entrance of her sensei's house with men lifting boxes from the house and onto a vehicle. She jogged over to the scene and asked of what was happening.

"I don't know! I came back from grocery shopping with Asuma, and the next thing I see these men taking all our stuff away! This is my house. You can't do this!" She yelled at the men in his uniform and cap.

"It's not your house anymore." He said, looking at the clipboard in his hand.

"What do you mean 'not anymore'?"

He looked at her with a sigh before showing her papers that Hinata could not clearly see. "A woman by the name Kimiko purchased the house yesterday."

"Kimiko?!" Asuma and Kurenai gasped in unison. Hinata felt a sudden uneasiness rush over her. If the house had been sold, where was she and Korean-sensei going to live now?

"Oh, Kurenai!" Said a high-pitched and whiney voice, "like my new house?" Asuma held his former teammate by the shoulder to calm her down. "Oh, hey Asuma, didn't see you there either?" Kimiko eyed Hinata and asked who she was.

"I'm Hinata Hyu- I'm Hinata." The kunoichi replied.

"Oh, you are the Hyuga that got disowned!" Hinata's lips quivered from the insensitive tone in her voice. "I didn't know you lived with Kurenai. Boy, had I known I would've thought things through before buying the house. Sorry about that." She said in that same monotonous voice before turning around waving them goodbye in the most unfriendly way ever.

 _Buying the house?..._ She looked over at Kurenai and then at the men moving the boxes and leaving them on the ground. _Does that mean Kurenai lost her house? Where are we supposed to live now?._ She ran over to Kurenai.

"Kurenai-sensei, what is going to happen?" Kurenai inhaled all the air her lungs could possibly muster. She exhaled in defeat.

"I don't know, Hinata. This is totally unexpected, and as of now, we don't have a place to stay."

"N-No way... all because of..." Hinata was at loss for words. It seemed as though an obstacle was building on top of another obstacle until it collapsed. But the question was, had it collapsed? Was this the climax of it all, having not place to stay, sleep and eat? Hinata thought so. Nothing could possibly get worse than this.

"So, Kurenai? Now you know who not to mess with the next time!" The entitled ninja mocked, while she snobbishly laughed her way inside her new house and Kurenai's former home.

"I have a proposition." Asuma said, looking at Kurenai, and her only. "Since I have a new apartment, I thought that maybe..." He continued the rest of his offer through gesturing hand signs. Kurenai smiled to herself.

"You would do that for us?" As she uttered the last word, Asuma's hand mimicking came to an end, following a frowned expression.

"Kurenai... the problem is," he guided her eyes to Hinata and Kurenai rejoice quickly resided.

"Asuma, there must be some space for Hinata at your apartment." Kurenai, knowing full well that there was space for Hinata, looked at Asuma in pure hopelessness. To answer her state of denial, Asuma shamefully looked down, shaking his head in the most unnoticeable manner he could do.

All while this was happening, Hinata did not need Asuma to explain the problem with his deal. She could sense from both of the ninjas that she was going to be the problem. Instead of sobbing, she gave Kurenai a smile. It was a tiny smile, but she did not want to bother Kurenai any more. Her sensei had done more for her than she could have asked for. And therefore, it was time for Hinata to take the next big step on her own.

"Oh Hinata, I am so sorry!"

"It's fine, Kurenai-sensei. You have always been there to support me, and on top of that you let me stay with you when there was no other place for me to go. For that, I thank you." She bowed as a sign of gratitude. She stayed in the same position for a while as a sign of mental growth. The mental growth that Kurenai had helped her achieve when the road looked blank from her point of view.

"Hinata..." She felt an overwhelming rush of emotions from her student. Her mind delved back to the first day she laid her eyes on Hinata, and it played a motion of Hinata and the struggles she faced up until this point. The bundle of heartbreak, misery, joy build a pool of tears that Kurenai allowed to pour down her face. The second she saw Hinata raise her petite upper-body, she snatched her into her arms. Tight, her arms were tightly wrapped around her small figure. "Hinata..."

* * *

~ Training grounds - 8:49

Team 7 had been ordered to meet at the training grounds once they had settled their belongings at Sasuke's apartment. Sakura, being the punctual ninja as always, was there as the first one. She looked around in disappointment. *Even when we are under another major threat, he is still late*

Her thoughts came to an end as she saw Sasuke ahead of her. She shyly yelped _Sa-Sasuke-kun!_ The last time she saw him was when he stormed out because Naruto had broken the jar of milk. Rightfully so, he simultaneously ruined a potential moment between her and Sasuke. Naruto followed suit a few moments later. She raised her arm to wave at Sasuke with her usual greetings. Sasuke, as usual, scoffed at her.

"TEME!"

Both ninjas flinched and directed their attention towards the loud, yet familiar, voice coming from the trees. It was none other than Naruto. But this time, something was different this time. There was no usual goofy grimace on his face. No, his eyebrows were knitted closer to each other in a more downward manner, his teeth were gritting against each other in a frown. Naruto was mad.

Sakura would have defended Sasuke against Naruto's burst of anger any other time, but the tone in his voice as yelled "teme" was more fierce and aggressive than usual. _What happened between them?_ She thought as she saw Naruto walking over to Sasuke and stopped when there was a decent distance between the two.

"Apologize to her."

Sasuke, knowing full well who he was talking about, felt his eyebrows raise by the sudden demand. And now for Naruto, his mind dwelt back to the lavender-haired kunoichi. From her face, to the time she ran over with those tomatoes and tripped, to their final talk, to the time he saw her confronted by another ninja with the same eyes as her and lastly the moment he saw the Uchiha crest at the back of her shirt when he helped her after her fall.

"Apologize? Apologize to who?" Sasuke confusingly asked, switching between Naruto and Sasuke. She undoutbly, yet hoped to be wrong, knew that it was about Hinata. The girl whose name has been reoccurring since her and Sasuke's fight against Yoroi.

"Mind your own business, usuratonkachi." Sasuke finally replied. He turned to his side, avoiding Naruto's glare.

"Enough is enough, Sasuke! All she wanted was to gift you tomatoes for your discharge. You could have at least thanked her! How could you make a girl who was simply being nice cry like that-!"

"That's none of my business."

"If it weren't for her in the Forest of Death, you would be dead!"

The eyes of obsidian widened by the word 'death'. That word buzzed through the mind of the young Uchiha. It nearly sent shivers down his spine, thinking back to his near fatal moment in his fight with Orochimaru. He knew Naruto saw his reaction, and he was right. Had it not been for Hinata, he would have been gone.

The thoughts were chilling and Sasuke was about to rewind memories of him and Hinata in that forest - from their fight due to his curse mark, the fatal blow he landed her, to her revival, and lastly, to the chuckling and tiny smile they exchanged as a sign of acknowledgement. They acknowledged that Mitsu and Kurai were never gone, their paths got separated from each other. He was interrupted by Naruto's voice.

"I might not know what happened between you two, but you could at least show her some gratitude for what she did for you, dattebayo."

Sasuke frowned for a short second before he stared Naruto into the eyes with the utmost soulless expression he could muster. "She means nothing to me."

Sasuke's cold demeanor fueled Naruto's anger. It had reached a point where Naruto just wanted to yell down at Sasuke until he succumbed and went to apologize. And yet, that simple but crude reply took Naruto aback. Naruto speechlessly watched as Sasuke began walking. Sakura attempted to talk him out of it, reminding Sasuke of the new threat they were under and how Kakashi was going to prepare them until the time came.

"The mysterious guy gave us 48 hours before he would attack. We should be careful and stick together, Sasuke-kun." Sasuke stopped in the midst of his next step. He thought carefully of what Sakura said. She was right. They had to be careful now that a new threat had showed up, and Kakashi had been acting weird when the topic of the scrolls were brought up. Nevertheless, his feet began moving while Sakura's plea continued. As her voice diminished to the point where he could not here her, his steps gradually slowed down.

Saskue's hand turned into a fist in his pockets, staring into nothingness as he let his thoughts succumb to the memories of his past. Naruto did not know anything. Sasuke had one goal; to kill Itachi. Sasuke decided from the day of the massacre that everything in the past will remain in the past because they would only serve as a distraction. This meant that the hobbies, activities and people that he grew attached to would remain in his past. Sasuke faced the sky. The memories of their last encounter swirled through his mind.

 _Don't get the wrong idea._

 _I have my own goals that I must achieve, and until I have achieved that goal, I won't let anything or anybody distract me from it._

He took a deep breath. _It's not only killing Itachi that's my goal._ For a second a picture of the former Uchiha clan flashed before his eyes. _I want to revive the Uchiha clan_. His mind then flashed back to the moment where he, in return of befriending Hinata for Nana, would claim Hinata as his wife once they grow older.

He took another deep inhalation. _For now,_ he thought with the smile of Hinata in his mind. _I will have to say goodbye to you..._. One last memory from when they were Kurai and Mitsu played in his mind.

 _Mitsu is always worrying. Don't worry, I got perfect eyes in the dark._

 _I'm scared, Kurai-kun_

 _Don't worry, I'll get us home._

 _Sigh_

 _Just don't let go of my hand_

 _H-Hai..._

Sasuke exhaled before he decided that heading home to cool off and plan his next step with the new threat on the radar was best fitting. _I could really use some tomat_ \- A flashback to his fight with Naruto stopped him in the middle of his thoughts. _Never mind. I will buy new milk since that idiot spilled everything._

* * *

~ 9:01

Asuma had informed the Hokage of the situation Hinata was in. Hiruzen had ordered Hinata and her belongings transported to the Hokage building as he searched for a place where Hinata could live. After everything Hinata had been through, Hiruzen saw it as a duty to find a place that would best accommodate Hinata. A place that featured traits similar to that of the former Hyuga: tidy, quiet, peaceful but most importantly, welcoming. A place where the fellow resident would warmly welcome Hinata into their new apartment. Hiruzen's pen and stream of thoughts worked in union, and as he thought of the last trait for Hinata's place Hiruzen pinpointed the apartment with a thick dot.

Hinata slightly flinched from the sound of light jab from the pen onto the paper. Hiruzen had given the coordinates to the jonin that stood by his side the entire time. Hinata saw it as a signal to leave as well, so she stood from her seat and bowed and thanked him.

"Hinata," Hiruzen gently called.

"H-Hai?"

"I'm sorry that this had to happen to you. And I'm sorry that you are going through all this at once. So if there is anything that you need to talk about, anything I can do to help, please, tell me." Hirzen could not find anything better to say to sooth the situation. He knew that Hinata must be going through inexplicable pressure right now. The way she held herself up and continued to send him a smile of insurance was what Hiruzen admired.

"I have one question, who am I going to l-live with?"

"Ah, it's a fellow student from the Academy. She, along with all other academy students, should be preparing for this Chunnin Exams so you will have space for yourself. I hope you can bear with it."

"Y-yes Hokage-sama. Thank you very much for your help." She bowed and headed out to the jonin who escorted her to the van.

* * *

"Hey, isn't it the Hyuga that got disowned?" The driver said while sipping his drink as he watched her on her way to them.

"Hey! Don't say that so casually! I heard she had to live with Uchiha Sasuke ever since then." The Jonin, who had received the coordinates from the Hokage, said.

"Oh well, let's just get in." The driver responded, carelessly placing his drink on the car stand. The Jonin gave the coordinates to the driver, and the driver again placed it on the car stand. He turned on the engine. "Huh?" His mind must have been fooling him for a second for he thought he had spotted a squirrel on the pedals.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh, noth- Aw!" His yelp for pain from a sudden bite on his shin made him step on pedal, pushing everything and everyone forward.

"What the- Why did you do that for?!"

"Something bit me! I-" He was about to defend his action until he noticed dripping liquid from the car stand. His eyes followed the trace until they got glued to the piece of paper that was now drowned in the water he was drinking earlier. "Oh uh." He hurriedly picked the paper, fanning it dry. But the attempt was futile as the numbers had now been smeared.

"Oh no. Look what you did!"

"Don't panic! I can still read the numbers." He said with a shaking voice. The numbers were still readable. Although he couldn't quite make out whether the last number was supposed to be a 6 or 9. He flipped the paper in panic to decipher the remaining letters. He sighed in defeat and placed the paper down. _Just my luck_.

They arrived at the destination and asked for Hinata to stay in the van until they were done with the unloading her boxes. She nodded and waited patiently. It took a few moments until they told her to come down. She bowed and thanked them for their service before walking in. _Boy, do I hope there wasn't a mistake._ The driver thought.

She took a deep breath as she finally had some alone time. This place was quiet, tidy and peaceful. She thanked God that she did not have own many things. She was emotionally exhausted. She thought that the most sincere thing to do right now would be to greet her new roommate and perhaps wish her good luck in her Chunnin Exams.

"What..."

She flinched from the sudden voice behind her. She looked back and was paralyzed from the figure in front of her. Out of all people, it just had to be. "S-Sasuke-kun."

* * *

Hello everybody! It has been waaay too long since I last updated this story, and I sincerely apologize for that. School has really not been kind to my schedule and I had to put my story on pause (which I could've written in the summary but never thought of it ^^;) But I can safely say that I am back and am "cured" off my writer's block. I hope you will continue reading the romantic turbulent rollecoaster between Sasuke and Hinata and the rest of the Konoha 12 (Or should I say Guardian 12?... No?... No.. OKay...)

See you till next time :3


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

Previously,

 _I could really use some tomat- Never mind. I will buy new milk since that idiot spilled everything._

 _"Y-yes Hokage-sama. Thank you very much for your help."_

 _"What..."_

 _"S-Sasuke-kun."_

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

 _Reconciliation_

~ 9:10

"Thank you for coming with such short notice. Orochimaru really outdid himself this time."

"Outdid?! He basically got us where he wants us. One wrong move and he could summon... _that._ " Kurenai muttered the last word. Short glimpses of the creature _that_ night sent shivers down her spine. She felt the comforting hand of Asuma on her back.

"He may have gotten the elemental scrolls, but he does not have the scrolls of Yin and Yang to fully resurrect it.

"De, what is the plan Hokage-sama? Right now we are in a big pinch, the Guardians got a taste of the risks this life pertains. We can't continue to keep them in the shadows, they would begin to lose trust in us. If that happens we will be in a 'point of no return' situation." Kakashi spoke. He could see how this effect was beginning to split up his team. And the damage might be irreversible from that point on.

Hiruzen inhaled the smoke from his tobacco and sighed in frustration. He agreed with Kakashi. How he would tackle this situation was the risky part. "I can feel your sentiments, Kakashi. And my plan was to prepare the Guardians to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout to steal the scrolls back."

"Before you continue Hokage-sama, I have always been wondering. Where are the Yin and Yang scrolls located? It's weird that we never got to know this when we were the Guardians of our generation." Kurenai spoke.

He looked at her. "I don't know."

"Eh?" The Guardians gasped in union.

"Legend has it that the Yin and Yang scrolls are connected directly to the Yin and Yang Guardians themselves."

"So, the scrolls are inside Sasuke and Hinata?"

Hiruzen shook his head. "Not quite. Sasuke and Hinata are the only ones that can summon the Yin and Yang scrolls from wherever they are. But for that to happen, they have to be at the place where they first connected - where they first fell in love. That's why it has been hard for the enemy to summon _that._ They only managed to succeed with your generation. However, even if they were brought to the place where they first met, if the love isn't there, the Yin and Yang scrolls cannot be summoned. That's why they are known as the Guardians bound by love."

"What about the mysterious ninja?" Asuma asked.

Hiruzen rubbed his forehead. He felt that this was the time to tell his plan, which included the mysterious ninja. After they had time to swallow this information, Gai asked: "When will the mission take place?"

"On the day of the final Chunnin Exams. So, in 2 days. Oh, something I forgot to mention about the Yin and Yang scrolls."

The Guardians arched forward. "They can only be summoned by midnight."

"Why on a midnight?" Kakashi asked.

"It is connected to the souls of the first Yin and Yang Guardians. It was on that midnight where they fought the creature with the combined power from the crystals of their fallen comrades. It was on that midnight where they sealed their own chakra into the crystals in an attempt nullify the affect of the cursed crystals for future generations to come. But it was also on that same midnight they lost their lives. Legend has it their souls still roam the place of their passing."

"But why?"

Hiruzen looked Asuma in the eyes. "They died never regaining the love they once shared. And their souls have yet to find peace before they can descend into the afterlife. The only way to find peace is through the current Yin and Yang Guardians. But generation after generation, that peace could never be established."

The room fell into to silence from there. The team teachers were processing everything. Hiruzen spoke again. "That was it for now. Inform your students of this immediately and begin to prepare them for the mission and the possible threat of Orochimaru."

"Ha!"

"You are dismissed." As the ninjas began turning their way towards the door, Hiruzen stopped Gai. "I have to talk to you."

"Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"It's about your team."

* * *

The silence was immensely lonely. The eyes of of impurity and purity had locked contacts, and the world had fallen into a void of quietness. The two souls that had continually been separated by either force, nature or willingness were once again reunited. The glimmer from their crystals shone through their clothes while Sasuke and Hinata were still stunned by one another's presence.

If Hinata was being honest, she had reached her breaking point way before their encounter. Where she reached her limit, Hinata could not tell. All she knew was that she was dragging herself through the obstacles that kept building up. Was it the disovnment? Was it her forceble pause on her ninja career? Or was it being denied by the one person she thought she had lost since childhood? Hinata did not know.

 _That's my Ninja Way_. Those words rang through her mind. _Naruto-kun_ _._ His voice was supposed to cheer her up; they were supposed to turn her smile upward. It was supposed to give her hope, that even if she was going to share space with Sasuke again, she was going to get through it and stay on top. Instead, his voice became another one of those telltales that left just as quick as they came. It was heavy. And it hurt.

 _Drip._

 _Drip.._

 _Drip..._

Each succulent tear that fell down her tender cheek was an answer to the questions on her breaking point. And each tear was a sign of defeat. Another defeat that Hinata never anticipated but was left to accept. Was she ever going to win at least one obstacle? _Huff. Huff... Huff!_ "Sasuke-kun..."

 _Huff. Huff.. Huff.. Huffff...!_ "Kurai..."

"Hi-huh?" In the brink of an eye, the Yang Guardian felt a heavy tuck on his abdomen. It happened so quick that Sasuke had yet not processed his thoughts thoroughly. Before he knew it, his hands were resting on Hinata's shoulders, and his kneecaps felt the cold floor against them. Hinata had a tight grip on his shirt, trying to suppress her want to wail her frustration on the Uchiha. "Please, don't push me away."

When she uttered the command so gently yet with a shaky voice Sasuke, who come back to reality and was ready to remove her off of him, lay his hand back onto her shoulders. They quickly circled around her petite figure into a tight hug.

Sasuke sighed. "What are you doing here?"

Hinata shrugged while she was still in a shaky state. She had not forgotten Sasuke's distant demeanor, and she was not bothered by his question because he was right, what was she doing here? Back to his place?

Sasuke saw boxes by the wall to the kitchen. He had never seen those boxes before. _Is she moving in?_ He looked down at her and sighed again. _It's no use._ He lifted her in a bridal-style manner and carried her up to his room. He sat her on his bed and took a stool next to her for himself. He looked at her for a moment before walking out his room, shutting the door behind him.

Hinata sat still, numb from her panic attack. There were still traces of wet tears washed over her cheeks. She took a deep breath and looked around the room. It was still the same as before. _Am I that much of a burden?_ She squealed as the pile of frustration build up again. She was ready to cry again until she heard the doorknob being pulled. Her nostrils inhaled the rare spice of the powdered substance drizzled all over the soft rolls. It was mixed with the aroma of sweet sugar. She watched as Sasuke walked over with her favorite treat, cinnamon buns.

Her mouth opened in awe as he placed them on the table with a cup of water. He went to close the door again. He looked over at Hinata who had yet to dwell her hands into the sweet taste of the cinnamon rolls he had baked for her. "What is it?"

She flinched and shyly pointed at herself followed by pointing at the cinnamon rolls - her face was still in awe. The moment he nodded, she had dived into them without a second thought. Sasuke could not help but grin a little from her cuteness.

 _She means nothing to me._

The smile quickly faded. He pulled his crystal out and stared down at it - it reciprocated by blinking back. He saw the flash of Itachi on the crystal.

 _What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain man._

He clutched the crystal and shook his head, looking at the lavender-haired kunoichi once again.

 _If it weren't for her in the Forest of Death, you would be dead_

 _..._

 _I might not know what happened between you two, but you could at least show her some gratitude for what she did for you, dattebayo._

He looked down at his crystal again.

 _A-Arigato... F-For b-being n-nice t-t-to m-me._

He swung the crystal with the flash of Itachi out of his sight and threw it in his pocket. He proceeded to walked over to her. "What happened-" he asked, falling back on his bed beside her. He extended his arms to the sheets so he could lean himself against them. "- at Kurenai's place? Why is your stuff here?"

Hinata was rather astounded by the sudden closeness between the two. She was so astounded that she only saw Sasuke's mouth moving without any words coming out. Sasuke sighed in annoyance but smirked before he smacked his palms together, which startled the former heiress to the point where she accidentally dug her nails into the cinnamon roll. The grimace on Hinata's face made Sasuke's smirk widen.

"If you are done gazing, would you care to answer the questions?"

Hinata was once again taken aback with the teasingly tone in Sasuke's question. "A-a-ano... I-I-I didn't m-m-ean t-to.." she shyly looked at the mushed cinnamon roll in her grip, gulping her nervousness down.

Sasuke could only watch as she was trying to collect the words from her thoughts. However, what he noticed this time was her body language. Her shoulders were hanging loose while her mouth was twitching from embarrassment over the squashed roll. Her breathing was more slow and steady in comparison to before when she hyperventilated. She was in a relaxed state - a state he had not seen her in, in a while. He had missed it. He had also missed her stuttering. It was a part of her, a part of her that he liked.

Sasuke brought both his legs on the bed and crossed them. He thereafter placed his elbows at the edge of each knee and leaned his face on his knuckles. He leaned his face closer to hers, making a red blush shower all over her face. She attempted to hide her tomato-colored face under her bangs. "D-Don't l-l-lo-ok at me l-l-like th-at..."

"What if I don't want to, what will you do about it?"

"S-Sasuke-ku-un!" Sasuke grinned once again. Hinata slightly glanced over at him, catching him in smirking at her. She retreated her eyes before recollecting his question. She took a deep breath before starting, "Someone had purchased Kurenai-sensei's house. I-I had no place to live because Asuma-sensei only had space for 1 more person. The Hokage told me that I would be living with this ninja who was taking the Chunnin Exams." Her eyes swayed over to Sasuke and then back.

Sasuke could only blink as he processed this information. However, as relaxed as she was, he could still feel that something was bothering her. "Who was that guy this morning?"

Hinata titled her head from the question, it fell down once she knew who he was asking about. "That was Neji-nii-san. I-I-I don't know what he wanted, but he challenged me to a fight and gave me 2 days to prepare. I..." She looked into nothingness. She was determined to give Neji a run for his money until the whole ordeal with the purchasing of Kurenai's house appeared. She had not realized that she sighed in hopelessness.

Her head curled even further down, "I'm sorry." She heard the sly "Na?" escape Sasuke's mouth. She continued, "I'm sorry for always being a burden to you. You told me to stay away because I was a distraction to you, now I'm here. I'm sorry that I can't seem to keep out of your way...!" She uttered with tears falling down her eye strands.

 _Enough is enough, Sasuke!_

Sasuke looked as the tears kept falling down her cheeks. He gently held her chin and directed her eyes onto his own until they were locked. "Don't apologize."

"Eh?"

Sasuke lowered his glare, he could not look her in the eyes when he came to realize just how much pain he had caused her.

 _Apologize to her._

"I'm... the one who should apologize. I wasn't thinking straight when I said those things to you. I have a goal, and that is to defeat my brother, Itachi. The events that hindered that from happening was not your fault." He had let go of her chin and rested his elbows on his kneecaps. "I'm sorry that I made you think that."

"Sasuke-kun..." Hinata was stunned for a moment. She did not know how to respond to this Sasuke. Her hand was shyly covering her mouth as she fished for the words to say. While she was still thinking, his voice spoke again.

"So, what are you going to do about that Neji?"

Hinata shook her head. She shrugged. She sulked. She sighed. She did not want to think about Neji. She did not know what she wanted to do, actually.

Sasuke saw that the question had blanked her mind. His question on whether she had began preparing for the fight did not help either. It took him a while until he found the question that would result in a reaction. "How about you train with me for the fight?"

"Eh? T-Train with S-Sasuke-k-kun?" She looked at him in awe. He nodded. "You would really do that for me?" He nodded again.

A smile appeared on her face, but it fell just as fast as it came. "B-But I-I will only h-h-hold you back on y-y-your tr-training..." She whispered down.

"I never train with weaklings."

...

 _[...]don't bother coming back.._

...

 _..no, don't you dare come back._

 _..._

 _Why...? I'm not a Hyuga anymore.._

 _And I'm happy to know that._

* **Hiccup* *Hiccup***

 _The crystal should be owned by a more stronger ninja._

 _..._

 _You dishonored the pride of us Hyugas!_

* **Hiccup* *Hiccup*** * **Hiccup* *Hiccup***

"Oi, Hinata...!" Sasuke grabbed both her shoulders as her tears streamed down her face and her eyes were completely shut closed. He saw as she tried to formulate her words. His grip on her her loosened as he could hear her utter his name.

"Y-Yy... Y-you rea-re-really d-do... _hiccup..._ don't th-thin-thi-think I-I-I-I-I-mm _weak_?"

Sasuke smirked. "If it wasn't for you, Orochimaru would have killed me in the Forest of Death."

"Bu-But that was not me... th-th.. that was the crystal." She said in a low voice. Sasuke looked at her as she continued. "It is not the first time it happened. On my first mission with my team, the boy we rescued told me of the things I did. But all I remember is that I cried for the enemy to let the boy go."

"Don't underestimate yourself."

"Eh..?" Hinata raised her head and looked at him.

"Kakashi said that our crystals are the strongest among all the other crystals. You are not weak." he slowly cracked a smile - a smile he never thought would show on his face since his massacre. "Trust me, Mitsu."

"K-Kurai..."

Time seemed to have past since then. The air was filled with memories of their past adventures as Kurai and Mitsu. They joked, they grinned, they laughed. They felt truly connected for the first time since their untimely separation as children. In the midst of recalling past events, they had not realized just how much they had missed each other. The other's presence sent a wave of relaxation through their body.

Hinata, the kunoichi that had lost hope for her future as a ninja, felt a sense of restoration in herself from her time with Sasuke. Even before this, he always had a way of ensuring that tomorrow was going to be okay - that it would be an improvement from the previous day. While they were reconciling, she felt herself tear up on the inside. It was different this time - she wanted to cry in joy over how happy she was. Indeed, she was happy. She was for once happy. She did not think that the Guardian life allowed her to be happy. But here she was, with Sasuke, smiling.

The Uchiha felt that he had lost this side of him since the massacre. The side that knew how to laugh on memories. Up until this moment, he never had a moment where he was not serious. This new sensation was different, and he liked it. But he knew that he liked it because Hinata was a part of it. He saw glimpses of a future with Hinata by his side as they were talking. And the more they reconciled on past promises and dreams, the more he wanted to make this future happen. _Once I defeat Itachi..._

The young kunioichi's facial muscles stopped _._ "Sa-Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke saw a person that had far more similiairties to him than he thought. He thought Naruto was the person he could relate to the most, but she was different. He saw a girl who had been continuously compared to a more talented sibling, he saw a girl who was denied attention from their parent because they were never good enough, he saw a girl who, despite her adversaries, continued to fight. _I will make you mine._

"Hm?"

"Is something the matter?"

He gave her one more glare before shaking his head. "No, nothing is wrong."

"Wh-What about your team? Aren't you going to t-train with them?"

"I could be asking you the same."

She pouted. "... I-I asked you first."

He lightly tapped her forehead. She looked dumbfounded. "Wha-What was that for?"

He shrugged. He smiled to himself when she looked away with the same pouted lips. Her eyes looked in awe while she tried to figure out why he did that. She dropped it and asked about his team again. "Did something happen?"

This time Sasuke sat properly. He sighed when he thought back to the fight between him and Naruto. He told her that she had a fight with Naruto.

Hinata thought for while on what to say. "Wh-Why don't you talk it out with N-Naruto-kun?"

"Huh?"

"N-N-Naruto-kun is a very understanding person." It was at that moment she thought back to her talk with Naruto and how he vowed to make Sasuke apologize to her. She subconsciously glared at Sasuke, processing her thoughts.

"What?"

She rustled her head. "N-Nothing. But, think about it... talking with Naruto."

He sighed to himself in defeat, but with the new threat that Sakura reminded him of before he took off, he could not waste time on silly fights. He stood up. "You should get back to training as well. There is a new threat and we don't know when they will strike. Meet me at _that_ place tonight. That's the perfect place to train." With that, he left without further notice.

Hinata was still left with more information to swallow. A new threat? As well as that place he was talking about. "Hmmm, what pla- Ah! Th-that place..." She shyly smiled to herself, thinking of all the memories that were connected to that place. She stood from her seat and turned her hands into fists. _He's right. I should get back to training. I will find Kurenai-sensei, Kiba and Shino and prepare for the new threat._

* * *

~ 10:00 - Team Gai

"Lee, Tenten. We need to talk. Take a seat."

"What about Neji-san?" Lee asked.

Gai sat down and gestured his hand for them to take a seat in front of him. "Take a seat."

Lee was taken aback by Gai-sensei's straightforward manner. He also noticed that Gai had not greeted himself in his usual tone with an upbeat mantra on youth. Whatever the issue was, it must have been so serious that even Gai-sensei was bothered by it. Lee nodded to his order and sat down with Tenten.

Gai swallowed, he knew this topic was going to be discussed at some point. He took a deep breath and began. "You could say that being a Guardian gives you the benefit of access to an immense amount of chakra, but with that comes a curse. A curse that affects the lives of the Guardians with the crystals that are bound by hate and the crystals that are bound by love."

He looked at both at them with hurt painted all over his eyes. "You two bear on the cursed crystals - the crystals bound by hate."

"What?!" They cried.

He sighed to himself, facing the ground. "The crystals bound by hate. These crystals were worn by the Guardians that belonged to no clan. They were the outcast, they had no where to belong. The Guardians were set up and it resulted in these two crystals being infused with a poisonous substance - in other words they were cursed. The substance was so lethal, that once it had infected the other activated crystals, the end result was inevitably fatal. This set up led to feelings of betrayal on the end of the remaining Guardians that died resenting the two bearers."

He faced them again. "They came to be the crystals bound by hate - the bearers were bound through the feelings of neglect, worthlessness, and their fellow Guardians who were tricked by the enemy and died in resent. This was opposed to the crystals bound by love that, in the following generations, had proved to be a means of reversing the effect of cursed crystals. But to be able to do that, the Guardians of those two crystals had to be connected through love. Something that has shown time and time again to be tricky due to the polar natures of Yin and Yang."

Gai bit his lower lip, wanting nothing more but to end this conversation but he knew that this would end in hurt. The revelation of the cursed crystals and the order he was given by the Hokage before he left the room as the last one.

He collected himself and continued anyway. "These crystals spread a poisonous substance into the other crystals in activation mode. This substance diverge into the chakra of the user, poisoning them. That explains the purple veins." He saw as the dizziness in Tenten, she could barely keep up with all of this. Kakashi was right, keeping these secrets were never a good idea.

He exhaled slowly with the next part that was going to throw them completely off. "Sasuke and Hinata bear on the crystals bound by love - these crystals are also known as the crystals of Yin and Yang. Had Sasuke and Hinata's crystals not purified the effect of the poison... Neji and the other Guardians would have died."

"D-died?..." Tenten stuttered.

Gai nodded. "That is why the identity of the Guardians must stay a secret for the sake of your safety. It is to avoid the encounter of the cursed crystals. But the Forest of Death incident was a turn of events and right now it's looking gray for us."

"Why is it looking gray for us? Didn't we defeat the enemy?" Lee asked with a shaky voice.

Gai shook his head. "That incident was a set up. While we were fighting out there, they infiltrated the bases of the scrolls and stole them."

"What?! The scrolls are gone?!" Gai stayed silent, which was a clear enough answer for Lee.

"The enemy, Orochimaru, is leaps ahead of us. And Team 7 were apparently threatened by a mysterious ninja that bore on a crystal. We suspect that Orochimaru is behind this."

"Is there really nothing we can do? Can't we help Team 7 or anything?" Tenten exclaimed.

"Orochimaru was a previous Guardian. He knows what he is capable of with the scrolls under his possession. We can't be hasty with him. The Guardians including Neji still don't know, in detail, of how they were poisoned and how Sasuke and Hinata's crystals purified the effect. And we have decided that its' best for the sake of us all to keep it a secret."

"What?! Why? Now that we know how it works, we can still attempt to help. There must be a way for us to help our fellow Gua-"

"Lee! We can't do that!"

"But if we-"

"If that was how the cursed crystals worked we wouldn't have lost so many of our Guardians in the first place!"

"Gai-sensei..."

"Generation after generation, Guardians are lost due to the effect of the cursed crystals. Every time was a trap, and the enemy succeeded every time. The life of a Guardian is filled with fear, betrayal, loss, hatred. All in which we tried to hinder but it ended in failure. The incident at the Forest proves that! The worst of it all is that we were about to lose the Guardians too soon this time. We can't make any more mistakes. Do you understand?"

Lee's head fell to the ground. Once again, it was once again the feelings of worthlessness that consumed Lee's mind. _Even as a Guardian I am not good enough? All because of what, my crystal?_

Gai-sensei pulled himself together again. He had never raised his voice in an aggressive tone with Lee, and it pained to see the look on Lee's face. It was a face he could recognize from miles away. But he could not get distracted for there was another piece of information that would throw both of them in to the abyss of despair.

"We and the other sensei's held a meeting on our situation. And the Hokage planned a mission to infiltrate Orochimaru's headquarters for the missing scrolls. We are among the chosen teams for this mission."

"That's great! We will definitely succeed with the power of everybody on this mission." Lee sprung up with newfound hope, sending his signature smile into the air.

"The Hokage had one more order, Lee." Gai looked at Lee for him to seat back down. Gai-sensei gulped. _Here goes nothing._

* * *

~ 10:30

"De, where is Sasuke now?" Sakura shrugged. She looked at Naruto, who seemed to care less about what Sasuke was doing. She sulked. She saw how he was constantly shaking his head, with his head faced down. _Naruto..._

"Right here."

At the sound of the familiar voice, both Naruto and Sakura swung their bodies towards the figure. Sakura could not believe her own eyes when Sasuke started walking towards them. Naruto was speechless at the sight of Sasuke. He was furious at him from their fight, but a part of him was relieved over his return. He sighed to himself as he gave up the thought of confronting him about earlier.

"Have I missed anything?" He smugly asked, with a smirk.

Kakashi looked at his students to process this... rather awkward situation. From Naruto and Sakura's reaction to his question on Sasuke's whereabouts to the lack of reaction from Sakura at the sight of Sasuke made him come to a conclusion. _Yep... they definitely fought. Again..._

"No, we haven't begun yet."

Naruto clutched his hands. This whole Guardian life has done nothing but hinder things in him becoming a Hokage and Naruto had had enough of it. He had never been so frustrated for such a long period. He had not felt any progression as a ninja since the incident in the forest. Even before that, they only went on one legitimate mission. Everything after that had just been a blur. The secrets around the crystals, the enemy, the scrolls and the strange connection between Sasuke and Hinata.

"Kakashi-sensei, there's something that you are not telling us."

"Huh?"

"Don't play dumb! What is going on here?!"

"What do you mean?"

"With everything! We no longer act as a team, we are always divided. This new enemy showed up and yet I feel that we are doing nothing about it! All I keep hearing are secrets. Time and time again - the crystals, the scrolls, what being a Guardian really is! I don't want to be apart of any of this if this is how I am going to continue my life as a ninja!"

The Haruno muttered Naruto's name. She would be in denial if she did not agree with Naruto's sentiments. The team was kept from all of knowledge around the crystals and the life of a Guardian. Funnily enough, this was not the first time Naruto or Sasuke had confronted Kakashi about the information that is being kept from them.

"He's right Kakashi-sensei. Enough is enough. What are you hiding from us? What exactly does the title of a Guardian entail? Nothing came out from the last time Sasuke-kun confronted you about this, and look what happened. None of us were prepared for the fight in the forest. Now we have a new threat coming and we are still not making any progress."

Kakashi was left astounded, but he was not surprised. Hearing the phrase "life of a Guardian" was a rather controversial topic for him. Every generation had sought to find a way to make the role of a Guardian less ominous as it was, but it never succeeded. _Telling them might have been a better option from the start._

Kakashi sat down and waited for them to replicate his actions. Kakashi retold them of the information that they already know. He added the bit about the cursed crystals and how they suddenly fell ill during the battle and could have died had it not been Sasuke and Hinata. He also added how the cursed crystals came to be and the last moments of the remaining Guardians, excluding the yinyang Guardians.

"How did they do that?" Sakura asked.

"Their crystals, the yinyang crystals, are bound by the souls once owned by the first ever Guardians. Legend says that their love was so powerful, that even the poison from the cursed crystals could not effect the users. They were so strong that they managed to extract the chakra from the 10 crystals of their fallen comrades and defeat _it_ and seal them away. However, that might change now that Orochimaru is in possession of the scrolls."

"What is this _it_?"

He looked at Sasuke before facing the floor. He tried to gather the strength to talk about the creature that almost took the lives of the Guardians of his generation, including his own. "It's a creature. A creature that for generations have been the most powerful tool the enemy has to defeat the Guardians. It's a soulless monster with no personality of its own. Whoever revives it has full control over it and there is nothing that can be done about it."

"So, the only way to defeat it is to seal it?" Sakura asked. Kakashi nodded. However, he noted that the only Guardians who can seal this creature are the Yin and Yang Guardians.

"How come?" Naruto asked.

"Because their crystals are the only crystals who can withstand such a great amount of chakra without breaking. That's why they were able to extract the chakra from the other 10 Guardians. However, they can only withstand this together, united. They are called the Guardians bound by love after all."

Team 7 nodded. It was then it hit Sakura. "W-W-Wait a minute. Does that mean that Sasuke-kun and Hinata has to be in lo-lo-lov-"

"Yes, Sakura. They have to be in love with each other before their crystals are connected." Kakashi sighed to himself as he saw Sakura go into meltdown and then faint afterwards. Naruto's blank expression to the news did not help the situation either. However, Sasuke's reaction was the most surprising. He did not flinch nor did he make any funny grimaces. Kakashi thought for a second that his eyes were fooling him when he saw a tiny smirk on Sasuke's face. _These kids..._

"This would be the perfect opportunity to end this topic and talk about the new mission."

"Mission?" They said in unison.

* * *

"The teams are as followed. Team A will be infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout for the stolen scrolls. They consist of Team Kurenai, Team Asuma and Neji," Hinata flinched by the mentioning of Neji, "team B will consist of Team 7 and Gai."

"What about the two remaning teammates of Team Gai?" Shino asked.

Kurenai sucked the unsettling air into her lungs. "On the order of the Hokage, Lee and Tenten from Team Gai have been exempted from participating in this mission."

* * *

 **This concludes Chapter 5 of 12 Crystals, 12 Guardians #2. Thank you for watching :). Sorry for the waiting :( Major thank you for your patience. I hope the next chapter won't be so long in being released.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Enjoy!

* * *

Previously,

 _"Mission?" They said in unison._

 _"The teams are as followed. Team A will be infiltrating Orochimaru's hideout for the stolen scrolls. They consist of Team Kurenai, Team Asuma and Neji. team B will consist of Team 7 and Gai."_

 _"On the order of the Hokage, Lee and Tenten from Team Gai have been exempted from participating in this mission."_

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 _By my side_

The Yin Guardian took a deep breath before breaking the silence. "Let's seal our chakras."

"Seal our chakra? What are you talking about?"

"We seemed to be the only Guardians to counter the poison. Don't you think it was weird how we were the only ones not affected by it?"

The Yang Guardian closed his eyes to erase the memories of his fallen comrades. He opened them as the Yin Guardian spoke again. "For the future generations to come, let's seal our chakra in the crystals. Maybe it will help the-"

"Him-," he interrupted, "-I told you not to call me by that name ag-", "- I'm sorry."

The Yin Guardian could not muster the tears anymore. She let them slide down her cheek, into the rosy red river. They both knew that they were at their limit and that their final breath would be taken in this very moment. Her sniffs and shaky throat made it difficult for her to utter a single word. That gave the Yang Guardian the opportunity to continue.

"I know I was harsh. I pushed the only love of my life away. I was only looking for more power, but while I was looking for more power," he turned his face over to her face, "I never stopped loving you."

"Yang..." She managed to say. She rotated her body in an attempt to stand up, he imitated her action. She pulled out her crystal, avoiding his glare.

"Hime," he said again, extending his arm to touch her, she swiftly dodged his hand. He retreated his arm in dismay. He knew she was beyond hurt over his drastic change. And he was prepared to lose her forever, but a part of him was not able to accept that this was gong to to be their final moment.

"Let's seal our souls as well." She said as her crystal started hovering above her palm.

He looked at her with confusion. "If we seal our souls, the future Yin and Yang Guardians won't find peace because of us."

Still avoiding his eyes, "We are doing this for the future Guardians. Our fate doesn't matter when we can help in preventing the tragedy that befell our comrades."

"Hime..." He whispered. The Yin Guardian pulled herself together and connected their eye globes. In her stare, she was determined to make this happen for the safety of the future Guardians. The Yang Guardian complied and concentrated his energy until his crystal began hovering.

From that moment, they both closed their eyes as their respective chakra engulfed their entire being. A tiny wind blew through them as the transaction was completed. They let their hand fall to their sides while their crystals continued to hover.

The Yin Guardian could feel the beating of her heart weaken, she looked at her partner. For a moment they stood their simply taking the last look of each other before their last breath caught up to them.

With the last remaining energy she started halting over to him. "Yang... the future Yin and Yang Guardian doesn't have to suffer because of us..."

"Huh?"

She cried, her tears getting in the way of the lips movement. "Yang..."

In the blink of an eye, everything went array. Both the Yin and Yang Guardians were left speechless. With the last bit of energy his body could muster, the Yang Guardian sprinted over to her, yelping: "HIME!"

He caught his partner in his arms. He felt her inner liquids searing down his hands from the gash she sustained from a mysterious arrow. In his state of panic, he saw a few remaining soldiers shouting: "We found them! Let's get them."

"Hime, speak to me." He soured, lightly shaking her. But it was to no avail as she was laying lifeless in her arms, no final utter, no stuttering, no nothing. She was gone.

"Hime..." He groaned through his tears.

The moon shone down on the two individuals whose bodily fluid had colored the river in rosy red colour. The creature that had haunted the Guardians for so long, the creature that took the lives of their comrades, was finally gone. But now, the one person he had ever truly loved was gone as well. "Give her back..."

The soldiers were standing with their arrows. "Give it up, Yang Guardian!"

"Give me my **Hime** back!"

"Huh?..."

 _"Give me my **Hime** back!"_

* * *

~ Modern times - 20:10

Naruto flipped backwards and rejoined with his exhausted group mates. He had dodged yet another one of Kakashi's kunais. Before he could think of another strategy their sensei was no where to be seen.

"Na?" Was the only word Naruto uttered before he felt a hand grip his ankle. Sakura called out for him as she hurried over to grab him free. But to her luck, Naruto got forcibly pulled underneath them and all there was left was hole in the ground.

Sakura, who was shaken from the moment, was snapped out of her thoughts from Sasuke's warning. "Sakura, behind you!" The kunoichi turned around to see Kakashi about to strike her. She reacted fast enough to miss the attack. She charged towards him. She threw every punch that she could muster with her remaining energy.

"Cha!" She roared as she landed him the final punch that managed to push him far away. It gave her enough time to cast a mist around him.

Kakashi kept his cool as he was impressed by Sakura's improvement. He sensed the presence of all 3 of them, they were nearing him. He felt the aura of Naruto from behind and moved away to grab the hand that held unto the kunai. With it, he threw Naruto forward. The next was Sakura who had formed a sword out of ice. She was swift, but she was not experienced in sword fighting. That made it easy for Kakashi to kick the sword out of her grip and land a blow to her waist, pushing her out of the mist.

The White Fang must admit that they managed to break a sweat on him. As the mist was dispersing, he saw Sasuke inhaling the air into his lungs and fire the infamous Fireball Jutsu his way. The Guardian was about to jump out of the air until he felt a heavy tug on both his ankles. _Wha?_ He noticed Sakura from the side with her hands dug into the ground. _Not bad._

"We got him!" Naruto cheered.

"Not quite." Kakashi responded while raising the Release sign in front of him. Before Team 7s' eyes the fireball blew out.

"No way..." Sakura whispered in defeat.

Kakashi took his other hand and raised the headband that covered his eyes. Sasuke panicked, knowing what was going to happen.

"Don't look into his eyes!"

"Too late." Kakashi said as his Sharingan was at display.

Sasuke covered his eyes, looking away from Kakashi. _If he wants to fight Sharingan with Sharingan._ He swung his head back at Kakashi's spot. _Then that's what he is gonna get!_ The Uchiha's Sharingan was activated. But to his disappointment, his teacher was gone again. _Damn it, where is he?!_

Sasuke looked to his sides and noticed another thing missing. "Where did they?... Naruto? Sakura?!" Sasuke turned around and gasped at the lying corpse before him.

"Hi-Hinata!" A sudden heart drop befell Sasuke at the sight of her lifeless body. He carefully knelt down to feel her pulse. It was weak.

The Uchiha was about to call for her again until she weakly put her hand on top of his. "He... He was t-t-to str...ong. Sor-ryy..."

A sudden chakra took over his aura, it was his signature colour: dark blue. "Hinata..." He tightly held her cold hand in his palm. The Yang Guardian slowly lay her down and stood up. His sword appeared into his hand. With a simple glare, a mighty wind blew through the battle field.

...

...

...

"Hime..."

"Where did this wind come from?" Sakura asked while covering her eyes from the sand particles. Her eyes widen from the powerful chakra she could sense from Sasuke. She watched as he pointed his sword at Kakashi. "You..."

 _Oh no... the crystal took over his mind!_

"Kakashi-sensei, what happened to Sasuke?!" While Naruto was fishing for an answer from Kakashi, he noticed a red dot in the heart of Sasuke's crystal. _A red spot? Oh no, that was never a good sign!_

The leaves from the trees fell and danced along the windy weather. A leaf flew over the eyes of Team 7, and as it fell on the ground, Sasuke was gone.

"Hime...!" Kakashi moved quickly. The Uchiha had appeared behind Naruto and was about to slash him until he came in time to shield him and carry him out of the way.

"He's so fast..." Naruto whispered in shock. He later realized that Kakashi had sustained a minor cut on his back. "Kakashi-sensei!"

"I'm alright. My genjutsu must have triggered this. His crystal has taken over him."

"What do we do to get him back?"

"For me to do that, we have to immobilize him first."

"Immobilize him? How? He is so fast.." Sakura yelled in concern as she looked over at her teammate.

"Give me back," he raised his sword, "my Hime!" He swung his sword at them, releasing a gush of wind.

"Hime?" Sakura asked. "Who is this Hime?" Her speculation was interrupted from Sasuke's moving arm, fusing his chakra into his sword.

 ** _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_**

A mass of Narutos sprung forward and launched at the Yang Guardian. The possessed Sasuke danced through the crowd, kneeing the incoming Naruto from his right, elbowed the one from below and slashed the 3 ahead of him. Every attack resulted in a poof of smoke, which made it seem like a fog Sasuke was trapped in.

Sasuke stopped in the midst of it all to ignite a burst that cleared his vision from all the smoke. "Give me-" he started, bringing his sword out again as the smoke cleared. "my Hime!" he shouted. His voice sounding shaky this time. "Hi... nata..."

The Yang Guardian felt his knees giving in as the picture of Hinata's corpse replayed in his mind. "Hime..."

 _S-Sasuke..._

 _Yang..._

"Hime..." A loud thud was heard from the Uchiha falling on his knees, dropping his sword in the process.

It was then Kakashi appeared in front of him and performed the seal for 'Release'. Seconds later and Sasuke's signature color hugged his entire being. When the colour vanished, he was back in his regular attire.

Naruto and Sakura came out of their hiding as the coast had been cleared. Sasuke, who had not lost consciousness, lay there in silence. He gently picked his crystal from the ground.

"Sasuke-kun..." Sakura reached her hand out to his shoulder, he shrugged her hand away. She whispered his name yet again. She moved away when she saw Naruto incoming. The orange-haired nin extended his arm out to Sasuke. Sakura watched in joy as Sasuke reciprocated by grabbing his hand.

Naruto pulled his teammate up, looking him into the eyes. "Are you okay?"

 _N-N-Naruto-kun is a very understanding person_

Sasuke gave Naruto a tight squeeze, followed by a cocky smirk. "I'm okay."

Naruto returned with his usual goofy smile. "I thought so."

This moment did not last long when Kakashi walked over to them, in particular to Sasuke. "Sasuke."

Sasuke arrogantly looked away to avoid the "I thought you knew better" look from Kakashi.

"You guys have improved since your training days against the scrolls. Keep up the teamwork and I am sure that you will be prepared for the mysterious ninja. Well, that settles today's training session. Get a good rest and get ready for tomorrow."

This time he looked at Sasuke. "Well.. it's good to know that you and Hinata are on good terms."

Sakura hissed to herself. Kakashi grinned from his mask and continued. "Add in a kiss and you would have sealed the deal." He said and in a nanosecond, he was gone in a poof.

"A-A-A K-KISSS?! Haaaa..."

"Sa-Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke smirked. "Hm. Not a bad idea." He said, walking away from the battlefield, an unconscious Sakura and a panicking Naruto.

"Oi teme! The least you could do is help!"

"Sorry, that's not my problem."

"You caused it!"

He stopped and turned around. "Oh, by the way. I won't be home for a while. So you guys just go ahead." He said before he sprinted unto a tree log.

"What is that guy up to now?"

* * *

~ 22:40

Sasuke wrestled through the branches and the bushes that kept scratching him on the way. The young ninja finally saw the river ahead of him, but he also heard splashing of water.

 _Is she training already?_ He thought, not paying attention to his footsteps. He halted when he saw clothes laying on the floor. He was confused as to why Hinata's clothing was on the floor. It was then that he tripped over a log and fell face flat on the dirt. He lifted his head, cleaning his face from the earth. Another disturbance happened when he felt drops of water splat on his face.

"Hi-" The figure of a naked woman, swaying around in the river caught his attention. It looked more of a dance to him, her every move was performed with elegance and precision. It took Sasuke a moment to realize that that girl was Hinata. He did not recognize her by the hair, it had grown to her waist. That reminded him of Hinata's form in the Guardian state.

He noticed something else with the dance. Her palms were covered in chakra - not the usual blue chakra but lavender. As she spun into the center, the water almost looked to be following with her. The water-drops looked more like glitter and chakra barrier surrounded her.

The moment was so stunning that Sasuke had not noticed his crystal slipping out of his pocket and hovering over his head. It began to shine vigorously, and Hinata's crystal corresponded. "Too bright!" Sasuke covered his eyes from the illumination.

"Eh?" The former Hyuga spoke. She turned her head to find a Sasuke with his hand over his eyes. "Sa-Sa-Sa-Sasuke-kun?!"

* * *

~23:00

"That damn Sasuke. Who does he think he is, walking away like that?" Naruto scoffed, opening the door to Sasuke's apartment.

"Maybe he had other businesses to do?" Sakura suggested, closing the door and following Naruto into the kitchen.

"Yeah, with Hinata."

 _ **SMACK!**_

"Sa-Sasuke-kun never said anything about Hinata, so stop assuming things! Baka."

"So-Sorry," he grunted, rubbing the aching mark on his cheek, "but man, what a life this Guardian thing is." He sighed, falling back on his chair.

Sakura looked over at Naruto with a small smile, agreeing with him. She turned on the water. "It's times like these I'm happy to be in a team with you." She spoke quietly while rinsing her hands off the dirt from training.

"Huh? What did you say?"

"I said," she looked him in the eyes, "I'm glad to be in a team with you."

"Sa-Sakura-chan?..."

"You are right. This Guardian life is tough. But, you always have a way to cheer me up when those thoughts cross my mind. I'm sorry." She closed her eyes. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you in the start. After all we have been through, with Sasuke disappearing here and there, Kakashi keeping all those secrets from us, you were always there. You were always there, beside me. And that calmed me down in the midst of the crises we went through."

Naruto was left astounded from the pink-haired ninjas' words. _Did Sakura-chan just apologize to me?._ Naruto was left to surprised that his mind to muscle connection became inconsistent. His arms were flapping around while he awkwardly but swiftly stood from his chair. "Sa-Sa-Sakura-chan?"

The Haruno could only giggle from Naruto's gimmicks. She nudged her head towards the door. "Come on, let's get some rest. Tomorrow is gonna be as tough as this one."

"Ha-Hai!"

The two Guardians walked out and noticed the boxes that belonged to Hinata. "Huh? What are those boxes?"

Naruto walked over to it and lifted some of the clothing that lay in there. As he pulled it up, he noticed a symbol on te back of it. Naruto had seen the symbol of a downward triangle and a flame in the center. _Isn't this?... *_ gasp* _Uh oh..._ He quickly lay the clothing down, hoping Sakura had not caught on.

"What is it? Does it belong to Sasuke?"

"Ehhhh... you might not want to-" "Move out!" "Oh-Okay.." She shoved him away and grabbed the jacket he took out.

"Is this!" She fondled through the rest of her stuff and came across a picture of a small girl with her mother beside her. "HINATA?!"

* * *

00:00

"Not bad." Sasuke said, standing before a Hinata who was scoffing and panting while holding onto her knees. They both had trained with their respective teams prior to this, so stopping here would have been an appropriate time.

"Although, you tend to hesitate when you are about to attack me."

"So-Sorry... I just-"

"No excuses. Don't hesitate. See me as the enemy when we fight. Be ruthless, because they won't get a second chance." He transformed back into his regular clothes as Hinata took a seat in front of the river.

He sat down. "Kakashi informed us of this mission taking place on the day of the Chunnin Exams."

"Kurenai-sensei did so as well. We will be infiltrating O-Orochimaru's hideout to retrieve the scrolls." She groaned, biting down on her lower lip. She hugged her knees for comfort.

"What is wrong?" He looked at her. The moon on this midnight had a particular glow to it's light. It was as though it shone right above the two Guardians. The reflection of the moon covered the entirety of the river. The light from the moon was so clear that both Sasuke and Hinata could fully see themselves in the dark.

The Ying Guardian looked at her counterpart. "I'm s-scared."

"Of Neji?"

"Of everything..." She whispered, pressing her knees closer to her chest. "What if I don't win against him? What if this mission fails and..." her mouth whimpered as she stared straight into his obsidian eyes. "What if I don't return?..."

"Hinata.." He said in the most tender voice Hinata had ever heard. Hinata saw his pocket radiating in the brightest color of blue. _His crystal?_ This thought was subdued by the numbness that fell over Hinata's entire body. She felt as though the connection between her brain and the rest of her body had been disrupted. Her only explanation to that was her crystal that was heating and glimmering inside her pocket.

The timing was rather weird as the moon began to shine even brighter. The moment was so magical that Hinata thought that she saw droplets of light floating out of the river. However, as much as Hinata noticed the supernatural changes to their environment, her eyes were still stuck on Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun..." She saw him move closer to him, and as such, moved closer to him.

Sasuke had noticed how their surroundings had become brighter. But there was a gnarling feeling within him that made him feel a sudden strong sense of attachment to Hinata. He felt bewitched. The uncomfortable warmth from his crystal was more evidence for this sudden change in him. He had also noticed how their distance had reduced to being tiny meters away from each other.

This feeling made him see Hinata differently. Her hair was still at the waist length. Furthermore, her eyes had a certain glow to it. Although they were pure white, he saw tiny specs of glimmer in her eyes. The lavender color complimented her eye color, making them more unique than previously. In a flash, he saw an image of a woman that resembled Hinata. However, this woman had longer hair than her, hair that reached her bottom. Her hair was a darker shade, almost blackish like. And her eyes were painted with in an ocean-blue colour.

"Hinata... Hime..." He said, in a soft tone. Gently grabbing her chin with his hand. "Wherever you are. Whenever you are in trouble. I will always be there for you."

Hinata felt entwined in Sasuke's soft scent, his cologne became stronger from his sudden thrust against her. It happened so suddenly that a sweet moan escaped Hinata's tender lips. He still had his hand on his chin, pressing himself further onto her. His thrust against her was so sudden, but that did not take away the warm sensation flushing all over Hinata's face. _S-Sasuke-kun..._

Everything after that became a blur. All that mattered to Hinata in that moment was her restored hope, the nostalgia of sitting by the river with Sasuke again, and Sasuke's lips. On hers. Pressing softly yet hungrily onto them. Not letting go...

* * *

 **Thank you for reading ^^ See you next timeeee~~**


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